FRIDAY MORNING DISCO!

This past Sunday marked the 30th anniversary of Disco Demolition Night, which most of us probably remember as a radio prank gone mildly amusing. Turns out that, while the stunt itself might have been played for laughs, there was something uglier fueling it. Check it out at The R today. And in honor of all this, let's play a little disco, hmmm?

New at The R

Pop culture history is fraught with the archetype of the do-gooder rich guy. Bruce Wayne. Tony Stark. Daddy Warbucks. Richie Rich. Now NBC is attempting to trot out its' own version, Teddy Rist, aka The Philanthropist, in a show "based on" real-life humanitarian Bobby Sager.

So how did they do? Well, The Roundtable and I are happy to tell you.

Wednesday Links

* Yesterday I saw the worst movie ever - The Hangover. I realize many of you might like it. But all I'm gonna say is, it pissed me off so badly as an audience member I went beyond the usual friendly confines and took my review straight to The R.

* Also, friend of the show, The Nerdy Bird did an interview for the SPEAK Foundation talking about ... well, her coolness. Check it out here.

* Wanna help my friend The SlackMistress out? She needs A Really Goode Job!

New at The R

At Racialicious today I wrote a short column focusing on Guillermo Del Toro's interview with Wired magazine, in which the writer seems to want to keep pigeon-holing GDT as a geek even while praising him for breaking out of the geek box. Plus, Del Toro says he's identified the "Model T" for a whole new way of telling stories.

Also, check out Wendi Muse's story, Nostalgia: A Sport For The Privileged. Here's an excerpt:

We fall in love with the beautifully enchanting portrayal of the past that we encounter in novels, historical fiction, and on the big screen. We get lost in the dashing gentry, the voluminous hoop skirts, the lazy Sunday evenings. This fantasy past, however, is quite far from the reality most of us would have encountered in the "good old days."

Racialicious Responds To Star Trek

New at The R, the Heroes roundtable follows Zachary Quinto over to his newest project -- iTrek! Among the topics up for discussion:

* Why Uhura matters
* The surprising new "cool" character among Trek fans
* The guest-stars we want to see next in the new series
* What to do about the Klingons?

Head on over and check it out!

Talkin' Heroes at The R

After a bit of a delay, you can now catch the season-ending Heroes Roundtable over at Racialicious, and get our take on:

* The season-ending death and ensuing twist
* The continued victimization of Claire
* Mohinder's medical qualifications
* Predictions for next season

As ever, the ladies I work with on this are great fun, and the hardest part of compiling this article from our chat was doing the editing -- I started with almost 20 pages of transcript and had to parse it to less than half that. Still, they bring the snark, as ever. Hope you like it.

Up In Smoke: Arturo v. Heroes 4.12!

Cross-posted to Racialicious!
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

A note about this week's especially tardy report: Monday morning I had to undergo an emergency wisdom tooth extraction. The procedure required more than the usual amount of local anesthetic to prep me, because for most of the previous 10 hours, I'd felt like the tooth had grown flaming tendrils designed to stream shards of glass down my jaw and up my temples, despite my efforts to contain the pain; literally, I was popping antibiotics and pain relievers at a rate that would give Hollywood starlets pause, and it didn't help.

I tell you all this because the experience was less frustrating than the latest season finale for Heroes.

True, “An Invisible Thread” did give us a pair of sincere OHMYGOD moments. But even when it's good, this series can leave you dissatisfied. Why all the filler between the killer? The best and worst aspect of the episode was, it made stuff like 1961 look even more pointless in retrospect. And it brings other uncomfortable questions to mind:

1. Will less episodes mean more good episodes?
Advertising Age recently reported that the show is getting trimmed from 25 episodes to 18-20 eps next season. From the examples given us by British television, that could bode well.

At the very least, it could mean we don't have to wait for months while the Benetrellis and friends run around in circles before finally getting their crap together in the proverbial nick. This time, the First Family ended up outwitting Sylar before he could fulfill his Presidential aspirations.

Again, though, let's stop and think for a sec: exactly why did Sy want to usurp President Worf's form? If his motivation had been to follow through on Micah's idea to repeal the persecution of metahumans, that might have made things more interesting. As it was, we got a solid 40 minutes of Zachary Quinto getting his Snidely Whiplash on – which, hey, the guy is good at. But we've been here already.

This time around, the Heroes' victory was costlier than usual. As Roundtable member Mahsino predicted last week, Nathan and his eyebrows were cut down by Sylar and his, eyebrows. The scene and its' aftermath, with Angela losing it at the sight of his body, were each gruesome in their own ways. But Angela's and Noah's idea to “save the day” -- using Parkman to brainwash Sylar into believing he is Nathan, was, admittedly, clever in its' own ugly way – it's the kind of f'd up gambit the two old pros are used to after 20 years in the life, although Parkman, still very much a do-gooder, is already chafing under the guilt. But HRG's explanation is the right one: Sylar becoming a news story would only have made things worse for everybody with powers, and their families.

So, in the next volume, “Redemption,” one can expect to see Mr. B and Mrs. P try to both keep SyNate under control and guide Primatech's rebirth as a government agency. But, see, consider one thing about these past few grafs ...

2. What will the series' POC characters matter in the grand scheme of things?
Now more than ever, the answer seems to be: not much. The overarching plotline would seem to not feature any POCs. And in Volume IV, remember how Rebel and his mission – shepherding metahumans to safety – was seemingly so important early on? As soon as we saw it was Micah, the character and the story were dropped, aside from last week's run-in with Sylar. Previously, Claire and Hiro had received communications from Micah; do their cell phones not have a Reply button? And this is without bringing up the rest of Micah's family being brushed off over the course of the series.

In “An Invisible Thread,” Hiro manages to get his own mini-arc, as he defies the pain his powers are now causing him to “shut down” Building 26 and free Mohinder and the other imprisoned superhumans. He also saves Noah from getting betrayed by Danko. But witness the cremation scene: only Hiro, Mohinder and Ando are still part of the main ensemble, three characters out of a POC group that numbered seven in Season One – nine, if you count Charles and Kaito.

And of these three, only Hiro has been mentioned as having a subplot in the upcoming season, as he continues to struggle with his powers. Some predictions: next season, Hiro's going to go through a Flowers For Algernon-like journey designed to be “emotionally wrenching.” Ando will get his own costume. And Mohinder will get manipulated by somebody while providing the voiceovers.

3. Why should anybody stick with this show after the past couple of seasons?
Honestly, I couldn't tell you right now. And coming from a guy who was positively enthralled by Heroes' first season, that's a tall statement to make. The show that seemed to be on a path to expand racial dynamics in sci-fi on tv isn't even a very good sci-fi show anymore – let alone a positively diverse one. The show has lost its' direction, its' heart, and most damningly of all, it's lost its' point. It has been passed by, creatively and/or commercially, by the likes of Lost, Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, and, hell, arguably even Dollhouse.

So we come to you, dear readers, and ask: should we even care about recapping this show anymore? Several people at The R have written in that they don't even watch Heroes anymore, or only watch it because they want to snark at it with our Roundtable. That is the saddest commentary of all on a show that once held so much promise: that it's just around for us to laugh at. Much like my Monday morning, after the pain and the frustration, the season and this series have only left me numb.

Next Week: A special chat with the Racialicious Roundtable
All images courtesy of HeroesWiki
Previously: Racialicious Heroes Archive

Conversations With Dead People: Arturo v. Heroes 4.11!

Cross-posted to Racialicious!
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Give credit where it's due: writers Adam Armus and Kay Foster took a premise that could have imploded big-time – Sylar coming unraveled – and turned “I Am Sylar” into a taut, capable lead-in to next week's season finale.

Tying it all together, of course, was the Big Bad's stumbling all over his new power. The story starts 18 hours before the final shot of “1961,” as we see the implausible occur: the Man with the Plan losing himself so badly in his new shape-shifting power, he wakes up wearing the face of a recent victim. Things get so bad for him he actually takes advice from Danko, who wants nothing more than for his heaviest hitter to keep racking up the metahuman notches.

Along the way, though, an equally unlikely voice emerges on Gabriel's other shoulder: the much-missed Micah. Whereas maybe even a few weeks ago, Sylar would have shredded Micah like so much confetti, his state of confusion allows the kid to urge him toward something better. That appeal gets Micah a reprieve and an assist from Gabriel, but it opens up a whole other can of worms.

See, Micah's pep talk seems to lead Sy toward dreaming big – like, Presidency big. It also, however, references Sylar being the one to ultimately stop the superhumans from being hunted. And here, in a very nice touch, is where the Benetrellis rejoin the story, with Nathan promising to stop his newfound doppelganger on his own. So now we face two questions: who's the bigger dead man walking between Nate and Danko, and is there a chance Sylar could (gulp) sincerely want to do the right thing here?

The episode also took promising steps in bringing more of the major players back to the nation's capitol in the name of the right thing: Hiro and Ando, er, the Crimson Arc make their way to Building 26, where they hope to ... uh, it doesn't seem like they even know what they're doing. Worse yet for them, just before they stage their assault or whatever, Hiro's power shorts out, hinting at more than just emotional damage. And seemingly not far behind is new papa Matt, whose sense of duty pulls him back into action, and away from his seemingly reborn family ties.

And not far behind any of them are the rest of the First Family, who are sure to figure in next week's proceedings, for better or worse. The biggest question I had coming out of this episode was: why do we always have to go through 8-9 weeks of mindless chaff with this show before a (usually) passable end to the Volume?

The Racialicious Scorecard:
Micah: Ask and we shall belatedly receive, I guess. The upside to Rebel's sporadic appearances is, he's not around enough to be damaged by the creative team. His breakthrough with Sylar, however implausible, was a feel-good moment and provided a nice counter-balance to the "talks" Gabriel was having with his interpretation of his dead mother.

Hiro & Ando: Another week, another adventure toward couples therapy. This week, we learned that Hiro is apparently “a little fascist.” Well, yeah, the guy is short, but Ando might have been over-swinging there. As Hiro learns (again) to get over Ando's own heroic ambitions, though, his time-freezing power glitches big-time, hinting at deeper problems ahead. Oh yeah, one more thing: can somebody write Hiro to call more people BY THEIR FIRST NAMES?!

Mohinder: Doing the voiceovers and getting shot and captured. Some things just never change.

Next Week: Tim Kring's writing the Volume IV finale! What could go wrong?

Micah & Sylar image courtesy of Comic Book Resources
All other images courtesy of HeroesWiki
Previously: Racialicious Heroes Archive

Raiders Of The Jumped Shark: Arturo v. Heroes 4.10!

Cross-posted to Racialicious!

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

"You could have told us all this in a restaurant."
-- Peter Petrelli

It's never a good sign when Petey's argument makes the most sense. But he's exactly right -- "1961" was, quite the pointless trip in the wayback machine, an ostensible origin story for the Company wrapped around a maudlin effort at “reconciliation” for the Benetrellis.

Picking up from last week's events, the family comes together at Coyote Sands -- the site, it turns out, of a metahuman relocation camp and some sort of subsequent massacre involving the members of Angela's family. But the vacation's not all fun and tomb-raiding; the former Angela Shaw is there looking for her sister Alice, who was apparently so traumatized that she's been living in a bunker at the camp for more than 50 years.

Think about it for a second: a firefight involving superhumans at a government facility, and the site is still wide-open? And, there's evidence of spontaneous weather patterns generating in this one particular zone and nobody – not even Primatech -- sussed out something weird was going on? And the camp can't be as remote as we were led to believe if the nearby cafe has been able to stay in business this whole time. Surely somebody would have noticed a weird woman wandering around town?

For all the (literal) Sturm und Drang kicked up here, none of it ultimately matters a lick in the bigger storyline. Alice disappears (or something); Claire and Noah make up (for now); and so do the Petrelli boys (for now). Until their next pissy argument erupts; then it'll take them four more months to figure out that, hey, the world might be going to pot again.

It's not literally until the last minute that we get a bit of plot development: Sylar has somehow taken on Nathan's appearance – have they even met? -- and is impersonating him in front of the media. Wouldn't all that time spent chasing ghosts in Arizona have been better spent preventing this from happening?

The Racialicious Scorecard
Charles Devaux: Who's the handsome black chap callin' people Ja-Shut your mouth! ... For the most part, the young Mr. Devereaux we saw here was a complicated man (though Angela seemed to understand him). But seriously, that out-of-nowhere slur scripted for him was completely at odds with the serene, sympathetic Devaux we met in season one. (Not quite as jarring but also incongruous: Roy Orbison's "Crying," featured in the episode, was actually released in July 1961, months after the events depicted therein.)

Chandra and Mohinder: Like father, like son, in a bad way – we didn't get a satisfactory resolution for either character. We saw Chandra conducting interviews and holding up a gnarly-looking syringe, but writer Aron Coleite pussy-footed around any hard evidence that the elder Suresh himself was doing anything harmful to the people at Camp Notanxmenripoff. Worse yet, after spending most of the episode in disbelief that his father would do such things, Mohinder begs off when offered the chance to actually confirm his suspicions. Instead he separates from Peter and company with some vagaries about seeking "Redemption." Since that's the title of Volume 5, it's likely we'll find out more about Mo's quest next season – but what a lackluster way to seemingly write the guy out.

All images courtesy of Heroeswiki
Previously: Racialicious Heroes Archive

I Will Make You Hurt: Arturo v. Heroes 4.9!

Cross-posted to Racialicious!

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Like a bad '80s thriller or the opening of any “CSI: Miami” episode, “Heroes” wasn't about business this week. Instead – pause for Caruso Pose – it was personal.

At the center of the grudge matches was the show's new Dastardly Duo, Sylar and Danko – who, it turns out, does have some game with the ladies. Seems America's Top Lawn Gnome, besides being married to his job, had himself a girlfriend on the side, a former call girl named Alena (Blonde #2,560,742, if you're keeping score).

At least, he did until Matt Sr., seeking revenge for the death of Daphne, outed the "Hunter," a confrontation that leaves both men emotionally broken. Lucky for Matt, not only is he rescued from the wrong end of the gun by Hiro (with an assist from Mohinder), but his mood brightens considerably when Hiro introduces him to a new reason to keep going – his own flesh and blood. The shot of the two Matts in the park, with Hiro and Ando, provided a smile-worthy moment.

While Matt rediscovered his sense of family, Noah saw his start to unravel in earnest, thanks to Sylar, who set out not to kill HRG, but “to destroy him,” personally and professionally. The cat-and-mouse game between the nouveau shape-shifter and the professional paranoid seemed to bring out more sincere evil in Gabriel than even the showdown with his dad a few weeks back.

Credit here should go to the cast members (Jack Coleman, Ashley Crow and Zeljko Ivanek) who aped the Big Bad's Sylarisms when the occasion called for it, as Sylar's powers pushed Noah into both a marriage-ending confrontation with Sandra (further props here to Coleman and Crow during a wince-inducing scene) and a career-killing showdown with Danko and some of his shock troops – HRG turns out to be right, but at the cost of the political capital he'd been building for the past few months.

In the end, the former spook is forced to turn to his own family for support, as he joins Angela and the rest of the Benetrellis in bumfu-k Egypt Coyote Sands, Ariz., where, it's hinted, some heavy ish went down back in the day involving herself and, presumably, the original group of SuperFriends. And as the family digs for answers out in the desert, Mohinder is doing some digging of his own back in New York – it appears his own father was entangled in this web, as well.

Next Week: Everybody into the TARDIS, 'cause we're going back to 1961!

The Racialicious Scorecard:
Mohinder: Speaking of being involved in stuff that actually matters on the show, the younger Suresh got a couple of nice moments: he not only seemed to finally mend his friendship with Big Matt, but his off-screen phone tip enabled Hiro's last-second rescue. And his burgeoning quest to find out the extent of Chandra's involvement with the metahumans of the past promises to make him – I hope – a player in whatever events close out this season.

Hiro & Ando: On the bright side, it was nice (if a bit implausible) to see Team Yatta make its' way from literally the middle of nowhere to the right place at the right time. At least they mattered again in the proceedings. But their continued politeness just annoyed me this week. It's one thing for them to be cordial to the “Asian Redneck” they encountered on the road, but after all this time, you'd think they felt comfortable enough to refer to their friends as “Mohinder” or just “Matt.” BTW, about said Redneck? I place him in the same category as the “La Cucaracha” horn and the name-dropping of Harriet Tubman – the less said, the better.

Micah: I want to talk about Micah here because his lack of involvement since being outed as Rebel a couple of weeks back only confirms a lot of folks' worst fears. One of the season's most-touted mysteries has seemingly been tossed aside, when it wouldn't take more than a line or two since then (like Mohinder saying,: “Rebel arranged a flight for me.”) to establish that he is still acting as the Heroes' agent. After all the emphasis on Micah's spiriting metahumans to safety via members of the core cast – like, say, Baby Parkman – to not even mention him lately smacks of creative laziness.

Previously: Racialicious Heroes Archive
Images courtesy of HeroesWiki

No, Really, We're Okay Now!: TIC v. Heroes 4.8!

Cross-posted to Racialicious!
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Note: Just want to invite everybody to check out the latest Roundtable thread covering 4.7 over at The R.

Are people's expectations really that low for this show anymore?

Going into this week's episode, the word seemed to be good from my friends: "Heroes ftw" one said on twitter; "we're on an upswing," another told me this morning. Really?

I didn't even mind that this was a placeholder episode; everybody needs those, I get that. But Sylar and Dudley DoWrong playing Law & Order: Superhuman Unit to track down a fugitive shapeshifter was by far the most effective plot in "Into Asylum," which in itself was nothing more than passable.

Not to say that our latest installment of As The Petrellis Turn didn't have bright spots: Cristine Rose and Milo Ventimiglia each showed some more welcome shades of humanity in Angela and Peter, respectively; and best of all, no Mexicans were harmed in the filming of the Claire-Bear Goes To Mexico sequences.

In fact, Claire was downright clever in using her regenerative powers to swindle a spring-drunk American coed out of his drinking money. But the ensuing reconciliation between herself and Nathan just felt hollow, because if there's one thing we've learned about this family – and Angela herself copped to this in her confessional – it's that these folks are always gonna make the wrong choice.

Speaking of bad decision-making, the point of all those shots of Danko shaving and listening to oldies finally came through – the poor grunt is more EEEEEVIL than he is smart, and he finally came undone this week, not only teaming up with Sy but flat-out allowing him to get the power Sylar has been after since early on in the series. What's the over/under on Gabriel turning on the “Hunter” and taking his shape – and his spot? Two episodes?

Near the end of the episodes, we got what was meant to be a dramatic sequence featuring the Petrellis and Claire walking away from their latest crises of faith and haircare. The problem for the series has been, we've always gotten this sequence, or some variant of it, where the First Family suddenly decides to stop practicing cranial-rectal exploration and get down to business.

And by this point, all I can say, again, is, really? After all that's happened they still need to hit rock bottom? In his monologue at the church, Peter made a compelling case for him honestly wanting to do some good in the world. But heroism, as any comic fan can tell you, is about more than good intentions; it's as much a job as a calling – with the same demands when it comes to your choices and your skill-set. And if the smartest people you know are manipulators and outright killers, you need to step up twice as hard. Here's to hoping this latest family turn toward ... well, outright intelligence sticks.

The Racialicious Scorecard
There. Now you've seen more POC core characters than were featured this week. And, hey, it's one thing for the show to rotate featured cast from show-to-show; that's the nature of an ensemble.

But, setting aside for a minute the convenience of Nate and Claire being safer in Mexico Hiro was on his native soil, what struck me most was, for all the talk about making things right, nobody – not even Claire – thought to mention Micah, who has been the most consistent force for good throughout this volume. And consider that last week, not only did Micah stick his neck out for Tracy's sake, but Hiro and Ando willingly traveled cross-country to save a kid that doesn't belong to either of them, and Mohinder has sacrificed himself for Matt's sake a few weeks ago. When the time comes to pay off the "Fugitives" storyline, will the POC characters matter?

Previously: Racialicious Heroes Archive

Title and Claire images courtesy of HeroesWiki
Angela/Peter image courtesy of Comic Book Resources
Hiro/Baby Matt image courtesy of Greg Beeman's Blog

The Kid Is Alright: TIC v. Heroes 4.7!

Cross-posted to Racialicious!
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

My, my, Micah, how you've grown.

Even if it was the worst-kept secret on the show, the youngest Sanders' return to the fold was one of several nice touches this week, making "Cold Snap" a welcome turn for the better from the past couple of episodes.

Name-checking Che and eluding Angry Valjean and the Armies of Excess Security, Micah came out of hiding to help his not-mommy Tracy escape SEXY TORTURE, only for her to first lure him into a trap, then help him get out of it with an all-out display of her freezing powers. It's hard to figure a kid who's hip to Che "leading a revolution" would be so surprised Tracy is "a politician" (not technically, but you know). Still, it was good to see somebody on the show who didn't mix good intentions with angst – in other words, not Claire.

Speaking of angst, Mrs. Petrelli was going through some of her own – though for good reason. Without Nathan's protection, she's now just another target in the Metahuman Roundup, and Cristine Rose did a good job of conveying Angela's increasing desperation, not just in her restaurant conversation with an old friend, but in her quiet sadness and resignation about her capture. When Peter flies in for the save, her relief is palpable. And it should be noted that as more of the core characters goes on the lam, there's less people around in a position to take down Big Bad Danko. That'll bear watching as Volume 4 progresses.

But writer Bryan Fuller's best feat this week might have been to bring not just closure, but credibility to the not-romance between Big Matt and Daphne. Despite theirs being the least believable of the series' on-screen romances so far, Fuller's script not only let both characters address the flimsiness of their connection ("I took a Spirit ... Walk," Matt says, almost embarrassed) but gives them a graceful exit, as Matt mentally projects himself and the dying Daph into a romantic night in Paris.

Sentimentality aside, though, the series seems to be biding its' time before (hopefully) serving up a game-changing episode. That's par for the course, of course, but watching the show nowadays feels like just that: biding our time. And with the Rebel mystery solved and the Sylar/Samson duel a disappointment, there don't look to be many engaging storylines left to engage the viewer before whatever big resolution the writers say they have planned. Much like Tracy after her run-in with the feds, the show is treading water, but on thin ice.

The Racialicious Scorecard:
Hiro & Ando: Literally miles away from the action, Team Yamagato sets out to protect little ElianMatt Jr., who, it turns out has already begun manifesting his ability. "Toddler Touch-And-Go" subsequently triggers a re-awakening of Hiro's time-stopping power. Along the way, though, we're subjected to yet another One To Grow On moment with Hiro, as he comes to terms with his mother's passing. For what they're going through, I can only hope for some sort of payoff for the boys. But I'm not very optimistic anymore. By the way, how many sick days do you think they have left at work?

Mohinder: I'm of two minds about Suresh's involvement this week: while the shot of him silently consoling Matt as Daphne lay dying made me hope for the best from their friendship, on another level, Mo was there to enhance other people's storylines: he bore witness to yet another reminder of Danko's EEEEEVIL fiscal responsibility; and didn't figure much into the Parkman/Daphne struggle other than tell the viewers she was dying. It was tough for me to reconcile this discrepancy.


Micah: Now that he's officially Rebel, Micah's character is entering his own tough spot. On the one hand, he's savvy enough to hack government servers and get people together across state lines. On the other, he was still naïve enough to believe Tracy really did care about public service. And I can't help but be disappointed not to see any involvement from Nana Dawson. But, if Micah continues to be featured, in both of his identities, he might give the show a sorely-needed person to rally around.

Next Week: Claire & Nathan on spring break – it's Benetrelli Beach Blanket Bingo!
Previously: Racialicious Heroes Archive

Suresh image courtesy of Comic Book Resources
Micah image courtesy of StarPulse
All other images courtesy of HeroesWiki

Inglorious Bastards: TIC v. Heroes 4.6!

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

There was a lot of bad to go around in "Shades of Gray" -- too bad only some of it was intentional.

Like a reject from Volume 3, this episode was a mess "anchored" by a bunch of bad personalities. Topping your sh-t parade was the much-ballyhooed reunion between Sylar and his father Samson, finally revealed as being played by Smallville escapee John Glover.

Unlike Lionel Luthor, though, Samson is holed up in a van down by the river in the remains of a trailer, hammering home hunting metaphors when not wheezing his way through cancer (while still smoking, of course, to remind us he is A Very Bad Person).

After teasing both a reconciliation and a fight between the two metas, in the end Sylar just ... uh, walks out. We're supposed to believe Gabe gleaned some insight from his dad turning on him, but it amounts to, "Well, I'll just keep on being EEEEVIL." And I know that letting the sickness take his father slowly was supposed to be ironic or whatnot, but the Sylar we've known wouldn't care about making a statement; he'd just take the righteous kill -- and the bunny.

Speaking of righteous kills, both we and the Bennet family thought we'd seen the last of Doyle last year ... only he pops up in their kitchen looking for help from Clairiet TubBennet, referred by the mysterious Rebel.

Hemming and hawing ensues, as Claire-Bear, after spending weeks wanting to take a more active role as a hero, is disturbed by the thought of helping Doyle. Again, the material was designed to create an emotional response here, but Claire's character has become so unsympathetic over the past couple of volumes it was hard to empathize with her. And this was before the utterly pathetic scene at Sam's Comic Book Shop.

See, in order to forge a "secret identity," Claire takes a job at the shop. Which is fine. But when the manager decided to frame his interview around asking "What Type Of Hero Are You?" and the group of male customers were presented as little more than leering shut-ins -- which the manager encourages -- I actually cursed at my screen. Writer Oliver Grigsby may not have realized that it's the fan community that still gives two craps about this series, despite its' critical and commercial downward spiral and continuing shoving-aside of characters who aren't white or named Benetrelli. The joke is old, people. And in this particular instance, creepy as Doyle.

ANYWAY.

The only bright spot in this episode was the graduate-school session in evil-cool given by Mrs. Petrelli, as she brushes off Danko The Gnome Of Doom without giving up any intel -- or skipping a bite of her dessert. The Hunter does get the last word in, however, as he outs Nathan as a metahuman just after Sen. Petrelli (DK-NY) gets Danko fired. Unfortunately, we're spared a scene where President Worf strips Danko of his rank for bringing dishonor to Homeland Security. And how does POTUS not even have a name? Never mind.

Speaking of never mind ...

The Racialicious Scorecard:
Hiro & Ando: Hey boys! Good to see you back in action ... uh, how did you get to L.A. from India? Wait, how'd you get to India in the first place? Have you checked in with the rest of the Soggy Bottom Boys? How did you two get stuck babysitting Little Parkman instead of, oh, his actual father? Will we get answers to any of these questions?

Mohinder: Suresh was better heard than seen, I guess, this week, as we got the return of his "deep" voice-overs. But here's the thing: did we really need to spend so much SEXY TORTURE TIME with Tracy without even a mention that he was still being held prisoner?

Next Week: Sylar and Danko's First Date? Anything has to be better than this mess of a week.
Previously: Racialicious Heroes Archive
Images & Character Bios courtesy Of HeroesWiki

Mother's Day: TIC v. Heroes 4.5!

For the second straight week, a strong character showing from the Bennet clan buoyed the episode. But go fig, it wasn't Noah.

Cross-posted to Racialicious!
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

After spending the whole of the series as little more than a doormat for her husband and her daughter, Mama Sandra stepped out and stepped up in "Exposed," helping Claire get Aqualad Alex away from the feds (including webisode graduate Rachel Mills). We also got to hear waaay too much about her affinity for Def Leppard, but it was worth it to see Ashley Crow finally get to play a fully-realized character on this show. Hopefully we'll see more of Sondra's newfound strength during Claire's confrontation with Doyle.

Elsewhere, off the beaten path, we got a glimpse of Sylar's biological mother, as a roadside diner stirs memories of the day young Gabriel's dad literally took the money and ran. Little Gabe runs after him just in time to see the elder Gray telekinetically slice his mom's forehead open. In other words, HE LEARNED IT FROM WATCHING YOU!

At this point I'd like to bring in our fearless Racialicious Roundtable. Though we haven't been able to get the gang together the past couple of weeks -- hey, they've got lives, too -- they did chime in on last week's lame-ass "reveal" of Matt as the latest Exploding Man. Here's a bit of what they had to say:

Mahsino: When a show gets to the point where they're ripping themselves off, they really need to re-evaulate the direction they're going in.
Hexy: I groaned, audibly. Then thought "Well, at least it's not Peter being painted destroying shit this season."
Erica: Maybe for the next big twist they can hijack a plane. (Again.)

Surprisingly, writers Adam Arnus and Kay Foster gave us a good payoff for the vision of Matt as a pipe bomber: he's actually been set up by the EEEEVIL Danko so as to justify the government's superhuman roundup, after Parkman and Peter leaked security-cam footage to the media. So The Hunter dropped a doped-up Matt in the nation's capital, thus "fulfilling" the vision, and sped off as Parkman collapsed, seemingly seconds before his predicted explosion.

We also got a bit of follow-up on last week's meeting between Noah and Angela, as they seem to be pulling the increasingly wobbly Nate into whatever plan they're concocting behind Danko's back. Primatech 2.0, anyone?

Next Week: Sy and his eyebrows are seriously on the hunt now -- will his family reunion be One To Grow On?

The Racialicious Scorecard
Okay, while this episode was well-executed, the utter absence of any characters of color (unless we're counting "TV-US" reporter Andrea Charles) was more glaring here, for me, than in different instances. In fact, when Peter negotiated with his brother, he only asked for Matt and Daphne to be returned in exchange for the stolen camera footage. Dude, Mohinder was part of your team! Was he not eligible for the "One life at a time" policy?

Now, it's reasonable to expect, I suppose, that Hiro and Ando were still in transit back from their Indian adventure; and The Haitian has yet to reappear. But, again, in the wake of Tim Kring's declaration that this show is all about the Benetrellis, the shuffling off-stage of the few POCs left in the cast makes me leery about their future on this program.

To close out on a positive note, however, here's a suggestion from Erica on how we might better navigate the weeks ahead:

We need to start a drinking game. If Hiro learns a lesson, take a sip. If Tracy is tortured while wearing a skimpy shirt, take a sip. If Claire rebels against her father then hugs him within five minutes, take two sips. If somebody has a gun to Sylar's head and says something instead of just pulling the f-cking trigger, drain your glass. If a POC is killed, swig from the bottle while yelling at the television. (Actually, not that last one -- we'll die of alcohol poisoning.)

Previously: Racialicious Heroes Archive
Images courtesy of HeroesWiki.

New At The R

The column I worked on over the weekend is now up at Racialicious, covering a recent survey of diversity on reality shows, and how it relates to From G's To Gents. Check it out!

Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down: TIC v. Heroes 4.4!

Cross-posted to Racialicious!

This week on SEXY TORTURE THEATRE: Noah and Mohinder, come on down!

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

After crunk-napping Mr. Bennet last week, Mo, Matt & Peter wrapped him up and took him down memory lane to gain more intel on his role in Nathan's Hero-hunting initiative. So why did Noah start playing HRG.I. Joe? The economy.

See, after Primatech was gutted awhile back, Noah ended up another recession casualty, with a (presumably) decent severance package and gold watch from Mrs. Petrelli. Sure enough, though, his old life comes calling when Nate recruits him – not to head up the operation, but to serve under the EEEEVIL Danko. Though the flashback sequences throughout the show made sense, it's a pity that we didn't see Noah get recruited by another prominent paper company in the NBCverse. Where's corporate synergy when you need it?

Scoff if you will, but even a hint of humor, or something a little more relatable about Noah's joblessness, would have livened up the multitude of flashbacks that framed the show. He even spells it out for us (and Angela) at the end of the show: “You know me,” he assures everyone. “You know I'm comfortable with morally gray.” I always enjoy Jack Coleman's performances, but we get it, already. Hopefully Bennet's newest gambit – cozying up to the Hunter – will yield a good payoff.

Hopefully better than the reveal surrounding Suresh: Apparently at least part of the reason he's been so wishy-washy since escaping from Con Air two weeks ago is, he knew it coming; We saw Bennet recruit him just before the abductions started, and Mohinder didn't tell anybody. You can imagine how his former co-foster daddy took that bit of info. In Mo's defense, however, he allowed himself to be captured, ensuring not only an escape for Matt and Peter, but a tasteful set of iron cufflinks for himself, courtesy of Chez Nathan.

And, hey, Matt's got it even worse -- he's the victim of another recycled plot, after painting a vision of himself as the latest Exploding Man. The big twist this year? Apparently Parkman is going to go off in Washington D.C. Rather than being shocking, the sight of Matt laced with frakking pipe bombs came off as yet another ham-handed attempt at social commentary – and made “Cold Wars” a call-back to the bad old days of Volumes II and II. That's the kind of reminder the series can't afford to give viewers anymore.

Next Week: Daphne's back! Isn't her shooting really memorable now?
Previously: Racialicious Heroes Archive

A Toxic Waltz: TIC v. Heroes 4.3!

Watching "Building 26" took me back to my days as a fugly kid at the roller-rink, watching the popular kids pair up and the floor clear. Yes, this episode was a Couples Skate!

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Sylar and Luke: Our resident Sith and his newfound apprentice did some bonding on the road to ... wherever the hell Sylar Senior is holed up these days. Along the way we got hearty bits of exposition on how Sy does what he does and more subtle-as-a-jackhammer reminders from Luke of how similar the two are to one another. Still, the MVP of their sequences was the car radio: "Psycho Killer"? Good stuff.


Hiro and Ando: The Dynamic Duo traveled to India – how? Who knows? Who cares, right? -- to fulfill one of Parkman's predictions and save a woman (Amrapali Ambegaokar) from marrying a complete dweeb of a “bad guy.” Neither of the almost-intended exhibited any powers, so it's quite possible the whole thing was just an excuse to get Hiro to work through his jealousy of Ando's newfound powers and restore his belief in his own heroism, and to get them a message from Rebel urging them to save Matt – nevermind that they were just hanging around with Matt.

Nathan and The Hunter: Oh, sure, Nate would get some time in with SEXY TORTURE victim Tracy and new boss Abby Collins (Moira Kelly), but it was Danko who arranged for Tracy to briefly escape her tanning salon cell and freeze a poor guy to death. The incident is enough to steer Abby from the path of Liberal Guilt and onto the Petrelli bandwagon.

Claire and Noah: Jack Bauer, eat your heart out! We also learned that Nathan's troops have access to Every Traffic Cam, Anywhere, Regardless of Whatever Network They're On. Thanks to that convenient plot point, Claire was spotted locating a new meta-human, Alex (Justin Baldoni).

Rather than laugh in his face at the fact that he's basically Aquaman-lite, Claire protects West 2.0 from her father, going so far as to hide him in her closet. She also tells a somehow-surprised Sandra that HRG is – get this! -- lying about his job. Fortunately for Mrs. Bennet, she finally stands up for the family and kicks him out. Unfortunately for Noah, he can't even drink away his sorrow in peace, as he's abducted in a blaze of irony by Parkman, Peter and Mohinder. Check, Please!

Next Week: The Not-Avengers and Mr. Bennet spend some quality time together.

Previously: Heroes Racialicious Archive

The Racialicious Scorecard
Hiro & Ando were the only POCs to do anything of note this week, though it's worth pointing out that The Haitian was among those pictured on the list of targets.

Character bios courtesy of HeroesWiki.
Title and Tracy images courtesy of HeroesWiki.
Sylar image courtesy of HeroSite.

Tuesday Links

Just a couple of things before getting back to a good Wednesday: U.S./Motherland and Duke/Carolina tonight? Couch Potato ftw!

First, over at The R, our first roundtable discussion of Heroes 4.1 is up and running.

And lastly, this video has me rarin' to get back to school -- for Bat'leth training!

Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | More Video Clips

Lean On Me: TIC v. Heroes 4.2!

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Cross-posted to Racialicious!

A little dab of Galactica helped keep Heroes on an even keel this week – don't look now, but this makes two consecutive non-heinous episodes!

"Trust and Blood," penned by former BSG writer/exec. Producer Mark Verheiden was all about bonds: the Heroes solidified theirs; Nathan and Noah worked on keeping theirs together; and both Claire and Sylar made new friends.

The episode was told flashback style, as Nate recounted to his mom the events immediately following last week's fateful Oceanic Flight 815 transport plane crash in Arkansas. While the boys and Claire waste no time trying to regroup, Tracy wastes no time before playing Let's Make A Deal, offering up Peter in exchange for her freedom.

Peter, obviously, has other plans. After ditching Tracy and escaping yet another confrontation with Nathan, he emerges as the leader of our fugitive fivesome, assuring Hiro, Ando, Mohinder and Matt that NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN. You'd think Hiro, the comics fan, would just reassure him that things would be back to normal in a year or two. But nevermind.

Poor Matt, of course, already knows the future is changing, thanks to his increasing proficiency with the power he inherited from Usutu. Unfortunately for him, one of his new Etch-A-Sketch visions proves to be true, as Daphne is apparently gunned down by Homeland Security troops. I say "apparently" only because Hiro, the comics fan, could've just reassured Parkman that ... oh, I give up.

Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Sylar goes from having father issues to diagnosing them in others, as he recognizes would-be hostage Luke Campbell as a fellow bad seed – one who can cook him bacon in 90 seconds while tipping him off about the missing Papa Grey. Presto! Instant Padawan!

Claire's new buddy is more secretive. He or she, identified as “Rebel,” says hi via text message, assuring her, “You can still fight back.” Proper spelling in a text? Obviously this person will turn out to be a villain. Let's hope for more OMGs and ILU's in Claire-Bear's future.

However bad Rebel turns out to be, he or she can't be half the bastard Nathan's hired gun, Danko, is shaping up to be. Even as Nathan and Mr. Bennet grapple with the reality of their new roles, “The Hunter” seems to be chomping at the bit for the junior Senator to fail, so that he can take more drastic solutions. And as the episode closes, with Angela refusing to support her son's newfound course, and Tracy calling “You're one of us!” after him, the strain on Nathan is palpable – and, most gratifyingly, believable.

Next Week: Area 42? Kids' stuff. Welcome to Building 56!

The Racialicious Scorecard:
Hiro & Ando: Ando seemed to hold it together, for the most part, but Hiro sounded even more fanatical than usual about Heroism and regaining his sword and whatnot. Definitely a turn for the worse from his usual fanboy antics. It's also a shame Hiro is ignoring his corporate connection again; surely there's some reporter in Arkansas who would love to hear about the government kidnapping a foreign businessman, hmmm?

Mohinder: Not much to do for Suresh this week, aside from seemingly hesitating before joining Peter and the rest of the escapee crew. He did, however, unsuccessfully urge Hiro to leave them behind, telling him, "It's not your fight."

Luke Campbell: Man, the guy's changed a lot since the "Me So Horny" days ... er, wait, wrong Luke.

Usutu: On the plus side, he took a more active role (so much as he could) in assisting Matt. On the minus side, too bad for him people still remember Isaac.

Previously: Racialicious Heroes Archive

Character Bios courtesy of HeroesWiki
Images courtesy of Comic Book Resources